CARLSBAD: Blackburn argues city shouldn't be first in pension reductions

BARBARA HENRY - bhenry@nctimes.com

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Editor's note: This is one in a series of stories about Carlsbad
mayoral candidates in the Nov. 2 election.

Carlsbad Councilman Keith Blackburn supports building the Alga
Norte park project and purchasing more open space land, but he's
attracted more public attention in recent months for being the lone
council member to oppose changes to the city's pension system.

Blackburn, who is among four candidates seeking the mayor's spot
in the Nov. 2 election, has repeatedly argued that Carlsbad
shouldn't be first in line to reduce its employee pension benefits,
saying it will encourage the best city workers to leave for jobs in
other towns with better benefits.

The retired police sergeant, who voted against Carlsbad's
pension system changes earlier this year, compares Carlsbad's jump
into pension reform to a risky kid leaping into a river without
checking how deep the water is.

"Even in elementary school, I knew not to be the first kid in
the lake to see if it's deep enough," he said during the first
candidate forum of the election season.

Blackburn also opposes the November ballot measure known as
Proposition G, which mandates that any increases to city public
safety pensions must be subject to voter approval.

This year's mayoral race is attracting much attention because
the city's mayor, Bud Lewis, has decided not to seek re-election
after 24 years in the job. In addition to Blackburn, the candidates
running for the post are former Marine Glenn R. Bernard, Councilman
Matt Hall and retired landscape architect Walt Meier.

Blackburn, 51, retired from Carlsbad's police force in 2008
after he was elected to the City Council. In candidate forums, he
notes that he has both experience as a city employee and as a
businessman. He manages a family foundation and a string of rental
properties in the Los Angeles area, and was involved in the
development of Carlsbad's outlet shopping mall along Paseo del
Norte.

He has argued that the city should build its long-discussed Alga
Norte Park project on Poinsettia Lane now while construction costs
are low and use the savings to pay for initial park operations
expenses. Blackburn also has said that the city needs to start
purchasing open space land for preservation purposes, given that
land prices have recently fallen.